Leading telecom operator Bharti Airtel on Wednesday launched qualified institutional placement (QIPs) and foreign currency convertible bond (FCCB) issues.
For the QIP issue, the board of Bharti Airtel has fixed the floor price as ₹452.09 a share as against today’s closing price of ₹458.95 on the BSE.
The board has also approved the simultaneous opening of FCCB issue for an aggregate amount of up to $1 billion. The relevant date for the purpose of the issue of FCCBs is January 8 and accordingly, the floor price has been fixed as ₹452.09, it said.
Fitch Ratings has assigned BBB-/RWN (rating watch negative) rating to the FCCBs.
Earlier, the company board had given its approval to raise up to $2 billion through one or more QIP, public or private offerings of equity shares and compulsory convertible debentures etc and $1 billion through foreign debt instruments and another $1 billion via issuance of unsecured and/or secured, listed and/or unlisted, redeemable non-convertible debentures along with warrants or other similar security denominated in rupee or combination thereof in one or more tranches, according to a regulatory filing.
The fund-raising is mainly to meet the dues to the Department of Telecommunications as directed by the Supreme Court towards adjusted gross revenue.